Before the Cleveland Browns dealt Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams and shook up the NFL world, another "trade" of a pass rusher had been the largest story of the offseason for a time.
Maxx Crosby getting traded to the Baltimore Ravens was a colossal transaction that grew more monumental when it collapsed after Baltimore canceled it, Crosby returned to the Las Vegas Raiders and the league was left scratching its collective head.
That was in early March. Some three months later, Crosby has turned the page on the craziness.
"It's water under the bridge," Crosby said last week, . "It's a long time ago. A lot of things I learned about what's going on and what this league can bring. A lot of adversity, a lot of different things you can't really anticipate. But I've been through a lot in my life. It's nothing to me.
"I'm here and I want to be here and I'm excited to be here. I've got a lot of work to do."
A day after the trade's undoing in March, Crosby released a social media statement – which featured a gif of legendary pro wrestler The Undertaker emerging from a flaming column – proclaiming, "[I'm] A Raider. I'm Back."
He also spoke on his shortly thereafter on his podcast, The Rush, and tabbed the nixed trade as one of the most "up-and-down roller coasters" of my life.
This past week was his first time facing reporters, though. He made it clear he's moving forward with the Raiders.
"Everyone knows my love and appreciation for this organization," Crosby said. "That never will change. (The trade is) part of the business. There are lot of other things that don't need to be discussed, but ultimately I'm exactly where I want to be."
Crosby missed the final two games of the 2025 season despite his desire to play out the season for the 3-14 Raiders, who placed him on injured reserve.
Crosby subsequently underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in January.
The five-time Pro Bowler was traded to the Ravens in March after seven seasons with the Raiders and 69.5 sacks (third in franchise history). In exchange, the Raiders were set to receive two first-round picks in exchange.
Concerns about Crosby's injury were ultimately the cause of the Ravens reneging on the deal.
The pass rusher is expected to be good to go around training camp in July, though concern is likely to linger until then.
While Crosby wasn't away from the Raiders for long, he's returned to a vastly new team.
Las Vegas has restocked its roster, adding No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza at quarterback, along with veteran signal-caller Kirk Cousins, with one of them set to take snaps from former Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum.
Klint Kubiak will be Crosby's fourth full-time head coach since he was drafted in 2019.
Rob Leonard will be Crosby's fourth full-time defensive coordinator.
And the defense is loaded with new faces such as fellow pass rusher Kwity Paye and linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. Before he can truly get into the mix with his new running buddies, Crosby has to heal up.
Then his journey back to the Silver and Black should be complete after one heck of an offseason.
"This has been a long road to recovery," Crosby said. "It's probably the longest rehab I've been through, but ultimately it's been the best by far and we're not even to the finish line. ... I'm real close, but I'm at that point where I forget. I need to relax a little bit. That's kind of been the biggest battle right now because I'm almost back to being out there."
